As a caregiver, seeking therapy for your child can be an important step toward their emotional, psychological, or behavioral well-being.
To ensure your child receives the best possible care, it’s essential to ask the right questions when choosing a therapist. Here are some key inquiries that can help you determine if a therapist is the right fit for your child’s needs.
1. What Are Your Qualifications and Experience?
Start by understanding the therapist’s background, including:
• Their education and licensing. For an understanding of different licenses and trainings, you can refer to another of our blog posts: “A Field Guide to Mental Health Professionals”
• Years of experience providing child therapy. Child therapy is a specialized form of work, and not all therapists have experience providing it. Asking about how many years they have worked with children, and in what contexts (Hospitals, schools, private practice, etc…) will help you understand the therapist’s background and competence.
• Asking about other specializations (e.g., trauma, anxiety, ADHD, autism spectrum disorders, LGBTQ+ issues, etc…). Therapists often have specialties and areas of expertise. Asking about what they specialize in may help you understand if their skillset would be helpful for your family.
2. What Therapy Approach Do You Use?
Therapists often use different treatment modalities, such as:
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
• Play Therapy
• Family Therapy
• Psychodynamic Therapy
Ask which approach they use, what it would look like in practice, and why they believe it would be beneficial for your child. Each approach has its strengths and limitations. If you would like to read more about different approaches, you can read other blog posts for more details. One article that may be helpful includes: Play Therapy 101
3. How Do You Involve Parents in the Therapy Process?
It’s crucial to know how much involvement you will have in your child’s therapy. Ask:
• Will I receive regular updates?
• Are there parent coaching or family sessions?
• How can I support my child at home?
Ideally child therapy should not just provide your child with new tools, skills, and insights, but it should also help you learn new ways to help your child. Understanding how the therapist plans to help you learn these new skills will be very helpful
4. What Are the Expected Goals and Timeline for Therapy?
Although timelines often differ for each child as each child is different, it may still be helpful to know what goals your child will be working on in therapy and a rough timeline for therapy. Some questions that may be helpful include asking about:
• Typical duration of therapy for similar issues
• How progress is measured.
• Signs that indicate therapy is working
5. How Do You Handle Crisis Situations?
If your child experiences a mental health crisis, ask:
• How do you handle emergencies?
• What resources are available for crisis situations?
6. How Will I Know When My Child Is Ready to End Therapy?
Therapy should ideally (although not always) have an end date for most cases. It may be helpful to talk with the therapist about what signs may indicate therapy can conclude, and how to transition out smoothly.
Finding the right therapist for your child is a crucial decision. By asking these questions, you can ensure your child receives the best possible support and care tailored to their unique needs. If you would like to learn more about therapy and if it could be helpful for your child, please feel free to reach out to our team.